Can aligning device



Feb. 3, 1942.

T. CHIAPPE CAN YYALIGNQING DEVICE Filed April 8, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 N l f/V TOR 7041 cm PPf A T TORNE Y j. i m

Feb. 3, 1942.

T. CHIAPPE CAN ALIGNING DEVICE Filed April 8, 1939 zgi.z

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 3, 1942 7 2,271,991 CANAI-JGNING nnvr'on 1pm Chiappe, Los Angeles, cam. ApplicationApriI-S; 1939, sane-1N0. 266,921

v .9 Claims. (01. 198433) This invention relates to can machinery and particularly pertains to a can aligning device;

In the handling of cans used to: pack various products and particularly cans within which food products are packed it often occurs that the:c'ans are disposed at random within containers such as steam baskets and thelike, and that they are not arranged in uniform and systematic position so that they maybe passed through other machinery. This is particularly true whencans 'are delivered in a steam basket to a labeling machine.

At the present time it isnecessary to employ considerable labor to remove the cans from the basket and to arrange them in cartonsyra'fter which they ar taken to a labeling machineand placed in the machine in the order in which they are packedin the-carton so thatthe label ing machine may carry them through. In order that a desirable speed of operationmay becarried out it has heretofore in most instances been necessary to pack or'a'rrange the cans inapreliminary operation before they are delivered to the operator at, the labeling machine, since he works with great speed and skillin picking up the cans and putting them into themachine. It-

is' desirable to provide; means for arranging and aligning the cans without manual operation since particularly with round :cans it would "thenbe possible to roll the cansal'ong a runway and directly into the labeling machine. It is the principal object of the present invention, therefore, to providemeans for receiving cans "arranged at random and without any systematic-alignment or spacing and to thereafter dispose the cans in alignment on a runway and in a mannen'to present all of the cans in the same position to'a' can packing machine, a'labeling machine or other apparatus without damage to the cansi The present invention contemplates the pro vision of a continuous rotary member upon which the cans are delivered and from which they are moved by centrifugal action to an aligning throat within which they pass andwh'e're they are received and fed forwardly to a suitable can runway.

The invention is illustrated by way :of example in the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a view in plan showing the structure with which the present invention is concerned. v l V Fig. 2 is a view in central vertical section showing the structure in detail. I

Fig. 3 is a view in side elevation showing the exterior arrangement of the structure.

Referring. more particularly to the drawings.

I0 indicates a base upon which is mounted a cylindrical housing I l; The cylindrical housing may. be open at. its upperend or closed if desired. "Mounted within the cylindrical housing adjacent theiower end thereof is a horizontal transvers webf; I! which carries a central ver-. ti-cal bearing [3. The vertical bearing I3 receives a vertical :shaft ll :which eXtendsup 'ardly" through a secon'dweb I5 and through a bearing i6 carried thereby. Mounted upon the lower end of the shaft I4 .is :a gear pinion I! in meshwith a pinion I'B. .The'pinion l'8 is carried-by a horizon ztally extending drivesha'ft. l9 which extendsalong the diameter of the cylindrical housing I l" and is mounted .within'bearings 20 and 2|. These bear-l ing's 'areicarried by an inner cylindrical wall 22.: The horizontal "sha'ft'l! projects through the op-' posite si'desof the housing andupon eith'erend may carrya pulley '23 bywhich the shaft will be driven/1m Disposed; above the transverse web l5 within the housing "I l is dome shaped aligning drum 24. This drum is fitted with a hub iii-which is'formed' with a central vertical bore therein to receive the upper end of the shaft [4. Th bore is closed at its upper end and rests upon the shaft, 'as indicate'd'atflfi. Suitable bearing collars 21 and'28 are carried by the shaft -l 4 and rest upon the bearings Hand 13 respectively. The drum has a vertical cylindricalwall'portion 29 and a closed upper convexed head 3'0'which merges into the vertical wallportion, as indicated at 3|, along an arc which. is relatively short as compared to the diameter of the 'drurn and the arc of the endrnem ber 30. The r'esult will'be that while the end 'fa'ceof the drum is relatively flat, cans deposited thereon will frictionally engage the relatively flat portion and will be moved outwardly by centrifugal tomes they slide along-the end face 30 and thendownwardlyaround the arcuate portion 3| into :p'o'sit'ions'of "alignment with the vertical portion. i

Attentionis directed to the fact that the diameter of the cylind-rica'l portion 29. of the drum '24 is materially lessthan the inside diameter of the housing H, the difference being such'asto provide' a throat 32 between the inner'c zylindrical face of the housing II and the outer cylindrical face 28 or the drum; which throat will be sufficiently greater than the height of a can '33 as to insure that the can may slide down edgewise'into the throat to a position where its axis will be hori-' zontally disposed and: its ends vertically positioned. Thebott'om .of. thisthroat is provided 1 with a floor 34' which is spaced from the upper face of the transverse housing web I 5. This floor member is here shown as being angle-shaped and also having a cylindrical portion 35 which extends upwardly into th portion 29 of the drum to which it may be secured by welding or mechanical fastening means.

Attention is also directed to the fact that the lower edge 36 of the drum wall 29 is spaced vertically a distance above the floor 34 and thus provides an annular groove 31 which extends entirely around and'contiguous to the floor 34. As shown particularly in Fig. 1 of the drawings, this groove receives an end finger 38 of side rail 39 of a can runway 40. The opposite side rail of the runway is indicated at 4|. is tangent to the vertical wall of thegroove 32 and the finger extends thereinto so that'as cans move around the throat 32 they will be engaged by the finger 38 and will be directed outwardly along the runway 40 and through an opening 42 in the side wall of the cylindrical housing II. This runway, asshown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, extends outwardly and is inclined downwardly so that the cans may roll by gravity to suitable receiving means. The position of the runway40 with relation to the runway 42 is such as to allow the cans to travel substantially three-quarters of the diameter of the dome 24 before being discharged. This gives the cans suificient time to assume positions within'the groove 32' before being discharged into the runway 40 and tends to insure that the cans will not be'viole'ntly moved so that they would bed'ented or become jamrned in the machine;

Extending around the inner circumference of the cylindrical housing His an arcuate rubber buffer 43 which is here shown as projecting a partial distance along the circumference although the arcuate length of the structure may be determined by the requirements of the machine. The object of the buffer is to frictionally engage cans which may roll outwardly along the top of the dome in a radial path of travel and cause them to turn and slide into the throat 32' in a tangential path of travel.

Disposed above the dome 24 is a 'feed runway 44- upon which cans may be deposited at random and without having any systematic arrangement with relation to each other so that'they may move down the runway and onto the relatively fiat portion 3fl of the dme'24. It will be seen that the floor 45 of the runway terminates substantially at the rotary axis of the dome and that a side rail of the runway projectsthere beyond, as indicated at 46, so that the cans will be fed directly onto the top of the dome and will be' carried away from the runway 44 in the direction of rotation of the'dome.

In operation of the present invention themachine-is assembled as here indicated. It is to be understood that suitable additional bracing may be provided for the housing and the bearings contained therein but that such variation in mechanical construction would not be material to the invention. The drive shaft 19 is driven in' the direction of the arrow a, as indicated inFig.

1, and-will operate through'the gears l8 and I! to drive the vertical shaft l4 and the drum 24 in the direction of the arrow b in Fig. 1. Cans are fed along the runway 44 and will be deposited on the convex top 30 of the drum. Since there is only one side rail 46 which extends beyond "the floor of therunway orfeed chute and since the direction of rotation of the drum is away from this extending side rail 46 the cans willbe car The side rail- 39 ried away from the mouth of the feed chute. Attention is also directed to the fact, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, that the width of the feed chute is such as to cause the side opposite that of the extending rail 46 to be substantially on the center line of the machine with the chute being offset at one side thereof. Due to the fact that the convex upper face 30 of the dome 24 is gradually inclined outwardly the cans which are deposited on it while lying fiat will frictionally engage the surface of the dome and will slide outwardly at a speed which will be accelerated by 7 action of the rotating drum. The cans which are deposited on the top of the drum while resting on their circumferential faces will roll radially toward the outer edge of the drum.

Attention is directed to the fact that any violent movement of the cans lying fiat or on their circumferences would dent the cans so that they could not be packed. The are of the convexed end 30 of the drum has, therefore, been carefully laidout-so that the convexity will not be so steep as to causeviolent movement of the cans in either of theirpositions, and will at the same time act whilefrictionallyengaging the cans resting upon their circumferential faces to turn the cans onto their ends. The cans which have assumed a flat position with an end resting upon the top of the dome will gradually" move outwardly over the convex portion 30' and then downwardly along the arcuate portion 3| andthrough the throat 48 between the arcuate portion 3| and the lower edge of the buffer 43." The cans which 'are'stillf resting'on their circumferential edges will rolloutwardly and engage the face of the buffer '43,

thus friction will be set up between one side of the can and'the' buffer and between the other side of the can and the moving" surface of-the drum- 24 upon which it restsjwith theresult that the can will be turnededgewise "and will slip through the throat 4 8 and into properly aligned position in the throat 32. The cans will then be resting upon the floor 34 "and will becarried-forward-by the'fioo'r as the drum rotates until the finger 38 is encountered. At that timeth'e cans will be stripped from the edge of the drum and will move onto therunway'40 and thence awayth'erealong toa desired position.

From' this-description it will be evident that the" cans will be handled mechanically without any violent action which would cause them to be thrown against each" other and damaged or thrown against the sides of the housing and d'amaged. It will be thus seen thatby the construction-here disclosed it is possible to provide simple and effective-means for rapidly-receiving cans' bination; construction and' arrangement of parts by those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of my invention as claimed? Having thus described m invention,- what I claim'a'nd'desire to secure by Letters Patentis:

1. A can aligning device comprising a cylindrical housing, the axis of which is vertical, a dome member within the housing disposed upon a vertical axis concentric with the-axis of the housing.

and being of a diameter sufiiciently less thanthe housing to form an annular throat around'the dome within the housing of a horizontal width slightly greater than the height of a can, said inner surface of the housing said convex top face representing a spherical segment having a radius convex top face greater than that of the cylindrical portion of the dome, a floor carried by the lower edge of said cylindrical wall'portion of the dome and being disposed in a horizontal plane across the bottom of the throat between the dome and the housing I and upon which cans may rest on their circumferences, means for driving said dome to rotate it around its vertical axis, a runway extending through the side of the housing and communicating with the throat and through which cans may pass from the floor of the dome to be carried away.

2. A can aligning device comprising a cylindrical housing, the axis of which is vertical, a dome member within the housing disposed upon a verbottom of the throat between the dome and the housing and upon which cans may rest on their circumferences, means for driving said dome to rotate it around its vertical axis, a runway extending through the side of the housing and communicating with the throat and through which cans may pass from the floor of the dome to be carried away, and a feed chute disposed above the dome and discharging at a point eccentric to the axis of the dome, whereby cans may be deliveredonto the dome for subsequent alignr ment.

the height of a can, said presenting a spherical segment having .20 tical axis concentric with the axis of the housing portion of the dome and being disposed in a horizontal plane across the 3. A can aligning device, comprising a cylindrical housing of uniform diameter disposed with its. central axis vertically, a dome member within said housing, a shaft upon the vertical axis of the housing to support the dome member and by which it is rotated, said dome'comprising a cylindrical skirt concentric with and spaced from the cylindrical housing, whereby an, annular space will occur between said skirt and the housing of a width slightly greater than the height of a cylindrical article to be aligned thereby, the upbeing convex and repa radius materially greater than that of the cylindrical skirt merging into the wall ,of the skirt, an annular flange carried at the lower edge of said skirt and extending outwardly toward the circumscribper portion of said dome ing cylindrical wall of the housing, whereby a horizontal moving support is 'provided for the articles to be aligned, an article runway extending downwardly and above the dome, said runway having spaced vertical side walls, one edge of said runway being in radial alignment with the axis of the dome and terminating substantially at the axis of the dome, and the other vertical edge of said runway extending parallel to said first mentioned edge and extending beyond said vertical axis to conform to the sloping face of the dome, said dome being rotated in a direction away from the last named edge of the runway, whereby articles moving down the runway and onto the convex face of the dome will be restrained to move in the direction of rotation of the dome, an arcuate buffer of resilient material carried by the cylindrical housing and disposed facing the dischargeend of said runway, and an ofi-take runway communicating with an'opening in the housing at the level of the, horizontal flange thereof, whereby the cylindrical articles .being aligned may move around and on the flange and will be discharged into the runway while resting upon their cylindrical surface.

TOM CHIAPPEQ 

